Wednesday, April 21, 2010

HOLOCAUST IN MY MIND

“In ascending steep climbs, the Himalayan Sherpas hold each other on the shoulder in a single file; you know, it somehow energizes them.” – Yobo, while climbing the Georgetown Fort in Grenada

“Sich falsche Hoffnungen machen,”he muttered absently,looking for an excuse to be on topof a hill housing a dungeon.

Remnants of a lookout point,the Fort stands now for an illusion:safe from the marauders,safe from the ogres of conquest,here remains a craven rockof futile defence from the clawsof Empires that came to save settlersfrom voodoo and diseasein the name of God and country,hope for the hoffnungsvoll,a new world where the oldis a detritus of violence and greed.

“I am a castaway childof the Holocaust, and I remember:no dungeons or chambersshall cut us down wherever we go;our best revenge is to thriveat any time in any clime in any placewhere we find ourselvesderided, denied, and defeated;it is only the hoffnungloswho must inherit the wind;my people will always buildthe lighthouse on the knoll;like the Sherpas on the Everest,we hold each other‘s backascending, we lend each otherstrength until the very end.”

Muttering, Yobo of Sarnia, man of means,absently looked down the cliff and claimed:“Ich auch eigen der Welt unter.No one will take it away from me. Ever.Pardon my Deutsch, Monsieur,but habits die hard and tongues get twisted."

--- ALBERT B. CASUGA(Rewritten from its first version as Cruise Fares 3: Holocaust in my Mind, the version above cuts the lines shorter to objectify the rhythm of the ascent on Fort George which remains on a cliff overlooking the capital city of Grenada in the Caribbean. It should suggest the breathing of the climbers as they strain to reach the top of the hill. Is this a better version?)

The Author

ALBERT B. CASUGA, a Philippine-born writer, lives in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, where he continues to write poetry, fiction, and criticism after his retirement from teaching and serving as an elected member of his region's school board. He was nominated to the Mississauga Arts Council Literary Awards in 2007. A graduate of the Royal and Pontifical University of St. Thomas (now University of Santo Tomas, Manila. Literature and English, magna cum laude), he taught English and Literature (Criticism, Theory, and Creative Writing) at the Philippines' De La Salle University and San Beda College. He has authored books of poetry, short stories, literary theory and criticism. He has won awards for his works in Canada, the U.S.A., and the Philippines. His latest work, A Theory of Echoes and Other Poems was published February 2009 by the University of Santo Tomas Publishing House. His fiction and poetry were published by online literary journals Asia Writes and Coastal Poems recently.
He was a Fellow at the 1972 Silliman University Writers Workshop, Philippines. As a journalist, he worked with the United Press International and wrote an art column for the defunct Philippines Herald.